headsman

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of headsman Two other men, subjects of excellent Holbein drawings in the show, would keep appointments with the headsman. Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2022 Even if your reality is the headsman’s block! Helen Shaw, Vulture, 4 Oct. 2021 Once upon a time, the queen could have sent rebels to the Tower and the headsman’s block, even relatives—especially relatives. Matt Seaton, The New York Review of Books, 9 Mar. 2021 The British prime minister has assembled a trio of headsmen to sever Britain from the mainland. Vanityfair.com, VanityFair.com, 22 Mar. 2017 Several other leading figures of the period ended their days on the executioner’s block, including the unhappy Comte de Chalais, whose headsman bungled the job and ended up frantically chopping away at his screaming victim with a small hatchet. David A. Bell, Foreign Affairs, 1 Mar. 2012
Recent Examples of Synonyms for headsman
Noun
  • At least that is what the executioners have always claimed.
    Ashlee Conour, Chicago Tribune, 2 Sep. 2025
  • The regime executed 975 people last year—making Iran the world's top per capita executioner.
    Tom Ridge, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 July 2025
Noun
  • At the end of long days, Banjo would bring his kids to the office, and the group — Kotwica, Banjo and the kids — would play games of hangman on the greaseboard.
    Zack Rosenblatt, New York Times, 22 Aug. 2025
  • The nursery consists of coral fragments that dangle from hangman structures that the Coral Restoration Foundation put 30 feet under the surface.
    Ashley Miznazi, Miami Herald, 17 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • His father, Robert, was a Cambridge graduate and a schoolmaster who died in 1879, leaving a modest estate, of which Henry, the eldest of eight children, was an executor.
    Ben Yagoda, New Yorker, 22 Sep. 2025
  • The Hill has reached out to Darren Indyke, the co-executor with Richard Kahn of Epstein’s estate, for comment.
    Max Rego, The Hill, 16 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • With the Yankees having eliminated Boston on a star-making performance from hurler Cam Schlittler—the 24-year-old fanned 12 batters and issued zero free passes to first over an eight-inning stretch—MLB enters the Divisional round with a murderer’s row of top media markets in play.
    Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 3 Oct. 2025
  • Beyond Gein, the pair are already preparing a fourth season, which will feature Ella Beatty as purported axe murderer Lizzie Borden.
    Daniel D'Addario, Variety, 30 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Headsman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/headsman. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.

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